1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to information presentation and, in particular, to devices, systems, and methods for presenting information using a space-constrained display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, use of mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other portable information devices has become pervasive. As use of such devices has increased, so too have the demands for rich information content. While the size, resolution, and flexibility of displays employed by such devices have improved dramatically, space constraints are inevitable. Unfortunately, space constraints limit the richness of information content available to a user. Examples of these limitations can be found in the set of “web-enabled” mobile phones that have begun to enter the marketplace. Typically, such mobile phone interfaces have attempted to squeeze web-oriented presentation paradigms into the comparatively small display screens available given size, weight, power, and other design constraints. The display paradigms employed have typically been based on text-based links and sparse graphics that attempt to reproduce on the phone, in dramatically scaled down form, the presentation of a typical web page. Unfortunately, the size of such display screens (often as small as 4 lines of text with 15 character width) is wholly inadequate for such displays. These interfaces have been heavily criticized for poor usability and sluggishness.
New display paradigms are needed. In particular, techniques, systems and devices are needed that will allow high-density presentation of information despite the substantial space constraints typical of portable information devices.